<p>Son with 3.5 GPA (UW) and 2010 SAT (720 CR / 680 M / 610 W). Class rank at end of Junior year was 54 of 200. Excellent Music EC (Multiple Honors), Sports (Track), Key Club, Community Service. 5 Honors and AP Math corses including AP Calculus (AB & BC) and AP Statistics. Honors Physics, Honors Chemistry. Will pursue Mechanical Engineering degree.</p>
<p>Applied -
Perdue University - EA - Denied (Program Competitiveness)
University of Maine - EA - visited and neutral, awaiting notification
University of Maryland College Park - EA - awaiting notification
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) - EAII - visited and liked it, awaiting notification</p>
<p>Considering -
University of Massachusetts - Lowell
University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Western New England University
Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)
Renssalear Polytechnic Institute (RPI)
West Haven University
Clarkson</p>
<p>Considered but rejected -
University of New Hampshire - visited and did not like, comparable schools available for lower cost
Stevens Institute of Technology - distance and poor student reviews
Tufts - visited and loved it but low chance of acceptance
Vanderbilt - may not fit into school culture</p>
<p>Any thoughts from those out there in similar circumstances. At this point in the process for Fall 2013, are there other schools we should be considering? Perdue University was the great disappointment as it has been his 1st choice for a long time. It was our first application and getting a denial has me worried enough that we are looking at schools that we would not even have considered before that occured.</p>
<p>Has a safety school that has the major, is certain for admissions, and is certain for affordability, been found? In-state public schools are often typical safety candidates, but some big merit scholarship schools may still be available (unfortunately, the scholarship deadline for Alabama - Tuscaloosa automatic full tuition has passed).</p>
<p>I think that University of Maine, University of New Haven, Clarkson, and Western New England fit the safety school criteria.</p>
<p>Our next target school is WPI. They haev a great program and a nice campus. I like their curriculum structure. They also have a very strong internship program. The city of Worcester itself is not that great but there are quite a few colleges based there.</p>
<p>Not exactly safeties, but if you are casting a wide net, consider Virginia Tech, NC State, Michigan State, Michigan Tech, SUNY-Buffalo, SUNY-Stony Brook. Not sure about their deadlines, though.</p>
<p>Are you OOS for Purdue (“Perdue” is chicken)? That might explain the rejection.
Are you in-state for UMass? Both UMass Amherst and Lowell have great engineering programs, better than U. Maine.
Clarkson is a great little engineering school but we didn’t like the really remote location.
RPI is excellent, RIT not quite as good as RPI but still very good.
Have you considered B.U. or Northeastern? Syracuse? U. Rochester? Union? Those aren’t necessarily safeties but may be matches.
My son is at WPI and loves it ;-)</p>
<p>Yes…OOS for Perdue (sic). Doesn’t much matter how I spelled it since it wasn’t a match for my son. It was his 1st choice but not mine. I’d rather he stay more in the Northeast. WPI is a reach but we both agree it is our next choice. It is my top choice. We have visited the campus and were mostly impressed. We like the the term structure, project focused learning, and internship programs. The WPI campus is nice enough though the 1st year dorms are not that great. The dim narrow corridors and bland concrete interior spaces reminds me of the military barracks I used to stay in. WPI is also very expensive…the most expensive school on our list.</p>
<p>Another wrote that UMass-Lowell is more of a commuter school and does not have a traditional defined campus boundary as do many schools. We will visit but it is dropping down our list.</p>
<p>We also visited UMaine and did like the campus. Some of the dorms were a bit rundown (typical state school), it is remote with not much to do or see in the town, but it seems very safe and has plenty of access to outdoor activities (e.g. mountain biking, kayaking, hiking, skiing). The big upside was the Advanced Composites Center and the research on wind power being done there. The cost was much better than most comparable schools.</p>
<p>Costs kept us from seriously looking at BU. WPI was the only school around the extended Boston area that I thought would consider spending that much money on. However, Northeastern has moved back into consideration despite the cost. </p>
<p>@ nohook > I did consider NC State. I had a friend who attended for Engineering there and liked it very much. I think that admissions to the Mechanical Engineering program is probably too competitive.</p>
<p>Alfred University (NY) established in 1836, application deadline is February 1st. </p>
<p>Merit Aid, Need-based aid, Division III Athletics, 2000 undergrads, small classes, know your professors, housing for all 4 years, No Greek Life. </p>
<p>USNWR Great Schools Great Prices
Fiske Best Buy
Fiske Small Schools Strong in Engineering
Fiske Small Schools Strong in Art & Design
Princeton Review’s Best Business Schools
Princeton’s Review’s Best Colleges </p>
<p>USNChief, if your S is interested in visiting Alfred, I recommend the Comfort Inn, located in Hornell, NY… or for anyone else interested in visiting. There is an indoor pool & a complimentary breakfast & the staff there is very friendly & accomodating.</p>
<p>Don’t discount UMass Lowell without seeing it. It used to be mostly a commuter school but has evolved so much over the past 10-15 years. New dorms, new majors, new academic buildings etc. etc. Engineering and science students are on the North Campus. You can read about it here -
[Transformation</a> of UMass Lowell - Lowell Sun Online](<a href=“http://www.lowellsun.com/umasstransformation]Transformation”>http://www.lowellsun.com/umasstransformation)
So, no, it is not an ideal or attractive campus but the engineering program is very good and has good ties to area high tech companies. Your most affordable solution probably.
Other than state schools, the private engineering schools are ALL expensive.
You don’t have a lot of time to ponder the alternatives as application deadlines for many schools have already passed. Toss in a few more applications and then investigate them further!</p>
<p>Tuition, Room & Board (with highest cost meal plan) for Mechanical Engineering at Alfred University would be $34,142 for the year for 2013-2014. If son’s GPA is recalculated to a 3.7 from a 3.5, (omitting non-academic subjects) then he would receive merit aid of $11,500/year, bringing the cost down to $22,642/year not including books, personal expenses etc… That is an excellent value, and that is why Alfred University is a “USNWR’s Great School Great Price” and a “Fiske Best Buy.” </p>
<p>If USNChief’s son is not interested in Alfred University, then perhaps others might benefit from my post who are interested in Mechanical Engineering at a small private school which does not have a COA of over $50,000 annually.</p>
<p>If cost is a big issue, there may be automatic full ride scholarships for his stats at Louisiana Tech and Prairie View A&M if the deadlines have not passed, but those are not in the northeast.</p>
<p>Thanks for the tips. Son is not interested in going to school in the South, Southwest. Locked in on Northeast but willing to go Mid-Atlantic or Mid West for the right school situation. We will keep an open mind on UMass-Lowell as it seems to fit almost all of the critieria. We are about to send out to our next round of schools with a Jan 15th deadline via Common App. I am trying to narrow down the list a bit.</p>
<p>This next round of schools (Jan 15th deadline) under consideration is</p>
<p>Clarkson
University of New Haven
Renssalear Polytechnic Institute (RPI)
Northeastern University
Lafayette College</p>
<p>Thanks SLUMOM…Alfred was under the radar for us. Will definitely take a look.</p>
<p>Thanks BeanTownGirl…Interesting article on UMass-Lowell.</p>
<p>instate schools are often a good bet for engineering. If the program is ABET acredited then the student will be studying the same material they would at any other engineering college. The playing field for engineering students is a lot more level than for many other majors since the curriculum is about the same anywhere and the outcome is a skillset that can quickly be assessed by prospective employers. A motivated student can do the things that help to get ahead such as getting to know some profs and seeking internships just about anywhere.</p>
<p>USNChief - As I said last night Umass Lowell is definitely improving itself and working on transforming itself into a residential campus from a commuter school but I do believe it still has a way to go. </p>
<p>I don’t know whether you have looked at RIT or not. They have a co-op program similar to Northeastern’s. Most programs are 5 yrs and you do 2 semester length co-ops (or longer if combined with a summer). they have been doing co-op for 100 years so have a lot of relationships with corporations and hold 2 or 3 career fairs thru the year with over 200 corporations attending. The average co-op pay for engineering students is $16/hr. The co-op pay and spreading 4 yrs of tuition over 5 yrs is a big help to pay the bills!</p>
<p>We are visiting UMass-Lowell and Northeastern this weekend.</p>
<p>In other news…we have decided against Alfred University. It is just to small and remote. RIT and RPI have also been cut from the list despite being highly touted on the Engineering ranking lists and blogs.</p>
<p>Applied -
Purdue University - EA - Denied (Program Competitiveness)
University of Maine - EA - awaiting notification
University of Maryland College Park - EA - awaiting notification
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) - EAII - awaiting notification</p>
<p>Considering -
Northeastern - leaning yes
University of Massachusetts - Lowell - neutral
University of Massachusetts - Amherst - leaning no
Western New England University - leaning yes
University of West Haven - leaning no
Clarkson - leaning yes
Lafayette - leaning no</p>
<p>Considered but rejected -
University of New Hampshire - visited and just not that impressed - comparable schools available for lower cost, music hall poorly maintained
Stevens Institute of Technology - distance and poor student reviews
Tufts - visited and loved it, small engineering department, low chance of acceptance
Vanderbilt - may not fit into school culture
Alfred University - too small and remote
Renssalear Polytechnic Institute - student culture, location, poor student reviews about campus life
Rochester Institute of Technology - student culture, location, poor student reviews about campus life
North Carolina State - location, entrance competitiveness</p>
<p>SLUMOM- I agree. We visited Clarkson over the summer and my son rejected it. I have a niece who goes there and loves it but it is not for everyone.</p>
<p>USNCheif - will be interested to hear your thoughts after you visit UMass Lowell.</p>